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John Pricci

HorseRaceInsider.com executive editor John Pricci has over three decades of experience as a thoroughbred racing public handicapper and was an award-winning journalist while at New York Newsday for 18 years.

John has covered 14 Kentucky Derbies and Preaknesses, all but three Breeders' Cups since its inception in 1984, and has seen all but two Belmont Stakes live since 1969.

Currently John is a contributing racing writer to MSNBC.com, an analyst on the Capital Off-Track Betting television network, and co-hosts numerous handicapping seminars. He resides in Saratoga Springs, New York.

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, May 23, 2012—The last time we visited with Michael Matz, trainer of then Triple Crown hopeful Union Rags, he was a bit frustrated but distracted, too, so it was hard to tell.

It was the Monday following Florida Derby, the horse vans were standing on the road alongside Barn 5 at Palm Meadows training center, where the horses were being loaded for their trip up I-95.

Some, like Union Rags, would be headed to Keeneland, to prepare for the Kentucky Derby, the remainder for some of the many graded stakes being offered up in Lexington that time of the year.

Others would be headed directly to Churchill Downs, and still others back home, Elkton, Maryland, site of the Fair Hills training center where the colt currently is being prepared for the Belmont Stakes, June 9.

Matz hoped that he would be shipping to Long Island with a chance to make history. Instead, it will be redemption he’ll be seeking for a talented, long-striding colt that might be as unlucky as his teacher is frustrated.

At least, that was the sense one had on one end of Tuesday’s NTRA National Teleconference. “It’s very disappointing,” the trainer said of Union Rags' seventh place Derby finish. “I thought he could win the Triple Crown.”

After the Florida Derby, Matz appeared driven and focused, his smile not coming as easily as it usually had in the past. On Sunday, Union Rags was “frisky” as he was led into his paddock pen so that he could run around a little, be a horse, as they say.

“But [Monday] morning he was a handful,” as Sunday’s regimen was repeated. By the time I had arrived, Union Rags was back in his stall, taking nips at passersby, including the handler whose only crime was trying to provide the colt with a sweet-feed treat.

From that point forward, things went swimmingly, including one of the better workouts seen at Churchill Downs in the run-up to Derby. He was doing so well that many handicappers gave him a second chance, a big chance to win America’s Race.

“It’s very disappointing,” Matz admitted. “How many times do you get to have one of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby? Everything went absolutely perfect until the last two minutes. I thought he could win the Triple Crown.”

For Matz, the Derby was agony from end to end. Not long after the race, he admitted that his horse had very little chance after the field raced beneath the twin spires for the first time.

It was the second consecutive race in which Union Rags never got a chance to prove himself, failing to win for a third time when the expectations were very high; as the heavy Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Florida Derby favorite, and again as the close second favorite in Louisville.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Matz explained further, the slightest edge in his voice, as if to underscore the word frustrating. “I thought he was sitting on a big race in his last two races. I just don’t think he had a chance to show his ability. He never really had a chance to run.”

To achieve this, Matz, after showing loyalty to Julien Leparoux who rode him in those two races, finally made a switch, choosing John Velazquez, who will be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame during the Saratoga race meet this August.

“Johnny is an experienced New York rider. Where [Union Rags] came from in the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, he didn’t have a clear shot. We changed jockeys so that he could show his stride. We had to try something.

“If he breaks, he has that big stride and high cruising speed. He [should] be closer and not crammed up. The bigger turns will help him. I don’t think you’ve seen the real Union Rags in his last two races.”

Union Rags came out of the Derby with a couple of little scratches on his ankles but that’s no longer a concern. The horse couldn’t be any better than he is at the moment. “He’s doing great,” Matz said. “He might work [Thursday], and he’s worked one time already.”

That work at Fair Hill was not officially timed as it was more of a blowout down the stretch and the end of a gallop conducted at a two-minute per mile pace under assistant trainer Peter Brette. Matz is hoping Velazquez will be aboard for his final work in about another week’s time.

Matz apparently has not given too much thought to his role as possible spoiler. “If I don’t win I’d sure like to see a Triple Crown winner. But I thought my horse would be where [I’ll Have Another] is now.” And beating the Derby and Preakness champion?

“I wouldn’t be going in there if I didn’t think I could beat him. Whether a mile and a half is the place to start, who knows? I don’t really know I can beat [I’ll Have Another]. Then I didn’t think Union Rags would get in trouble again.

“He didn’t have a clear shot. Maybe it’s the horse. Maybe it was the jockey, maybe it’s the trainer’s fault.” But Matz doesn’t sound like a man willing to concede he doesn’t train the best horse of his generation. “It’s a long, tough year,” he said.

I find it fascinating you said, “Matz appeared driven and focused, his smile not as coming as easily as it usually did in the past.”

Matz has been interviewed three times on Mark Cusano’s show this year.

The first, before the Fountain of Youth, and the last, after the Florida Derby, he sounded irritated, unwilling to answer questions with more than a word or two. Only after Union Rags won the Fountain of Youth and before the Fla. Derby, was he his normal, pleasant self.

I’m not much of a writer, more of a mathematician. Which probably got me involved with horseracing to begin with. What I do love most about the game now is its history.

Phyllis Wyeth the owner of Union Rags was born to wealth and had everything to live for. Her parents the Dupont Mills owner of Hickory Tree Stable, they had Glad Rags, Devils Bag and Gone West whom you may have heard of. Anyway it seemed Phyllis had everything growing up on the farm and later interning at the White House during the Kennedy years. Then she had a bad car accident that left her unable to walk. She still stayed active with horses for the family with mostly steeplechase horses. After her parents passing, times seemed tough for Phyllis to keep the farm going. She had a filly named Tempo, who she loved, who only made it to the races 3 times. Bred her to Dixie Union and sold the yearling colt(Union Rags) at the advice of her accountant for $145 grand. Later she had sellers remorse and had to borrow to get “Rags” back, paying $390 grand.

Michael Matz the trainer of Union Rags, had a once in a lifetime horse named Barbaro who won the Derby so impressively that a Triple Crown seemed odds on. Well Barbaro got injured leaving the starting gate at the Preakness and never recovered. Barbaro’s owners even dropped Matz from training their horses.

Union Rags the winter book favorite did not win the Derby and can only spoil a Triple Crown in the Belmont. This year has been a frustrating year for Union Rags and connections for sure, but it’s not SUNDOWN yet, although many believe so.

Happy B-Day Bob Dylan 71 today… and the beat goes on…

Well, my shoes, they come from Singapore,
My flashlight’s from Taiwan,
My tablecloth’s from Malaysia,
My belt buckle’s from the Amazon.
You know, this shirt I wear comes from the Philippines
And the car I drive is a Chevrolet,
It was put together down in Argentina
By a guy makin’ thirty cents a day.

Well, it’s sundown on the union
And what’s made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
‘Til greed got in the way…

Nick, you’re right on. I recall the Fla. Derby piece and, yes, there were many clipped one and two-word answers and I was thinking, why do this if you don’t want to?”
It just seems all so strange for a man who’s been through what he has in his life, including some great heroic moments, seemingly can have his attitude adjustment because of, admittedly, a highly disappointing result of a horse race.
His answers were more expansive yesterday, but you were left with the impression this was not a happy camper.
Sure hope, for his sake, his horse has better luck in the Belmont.

Yes, TTT, as unsatisfying as the result might be, a dead heat gives IHA a Triple Crown. (Bet the connections would sign for that right now).

Cat, your recollections are correct. And, in fact, Matz is still smarting from dismissal by the Jacksons. I happen to know a horse owner whose father was a trainer also dismissed by the Jacksons. Didn’t get the impression that it was the most amicable of partings. Damn tough business, this.

John, as far as the Matz Factor goes, being a trainer is like being a baseball manager. One day, guaranteed, you will get the boot.

It doesn’t take a Oujie Board (sic) to read between the lines of the Matz-Jackson divorce. Michael is a proud man and obviously wasn’t dismissed with class, which, not surprisingly, he found to be an offensive fate.

What I don’t understand is why he didn’t comprehend that it was the best thing imaginable. Every day that he saw the Jacksons was another day when the unwanted, resentment-brewing memory of Barbaro would have to inevitably surface.

As a lady baker in Jefferson said to me during our trip to Wisconsin earlier this month, when I mentioned to her how beautiful the massive praire cloud banks can be in the sunlight, she sharply retorted, “Yeah, but when they’re black, you don’t want what they’re bringing ya!”

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